Re: Spira EMI Gaskets
Brian: Spira is a company in North Hollywood, CA, whose primary product is a soft- core, compressible material spirally wrapped with a conductive metal. The product has a trade name of Flexi-Shield. Different cores and metals are available. You can reach them at (818)764-8222 for a free design guide and sample kit. They claim superior sealing for sliding applications (e.g., VME front/rear panels). Mike Conn
RE: Spira EMI Gaskets
Rick/Mike I have just subsribed to this mailing list and have missed the beginning of this thread. Currently I have a problem with gaskets, BeCu fingers, from both a user acceptance (safety reasons) and a durability perspective. When you say spiral gaskets what do you mean ? I presume Spira is a type of spiral gasket ? Where can I get info/specs/samples from? Brian McAuliffe brian.mcauli...@tellabs.com -Original Message- From: rbusche Sent: 19 March 1998 16:55 To: MikonCons; emc-pstc Cc: rbusche Subject: RE: Spira EMI Gaskets We have recently started using a spiral gasket on the edges of our VME front panels. I assume the Spira gaskets are the same or similar. If so, they are working MUCH better than the fingers we replaced. Durability is better, insertion resistance lower and in our case we have been able to mix and match with no apparent degradation. Rick Busche rbus...@es.com -Original Message- From: MikonCons [SMTP:mikonc...@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, March 19, 1998 9:02 AM To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject: Spira EMI Gaskets I just caught Ed's comment on the use of Spira gaskets. I have recommended their POSSIBLE use to one of my clients for sealing around some single-board computer VME cards; however, I have not directly evaluated the performance of Spira gaskets. Their literature makes great claims (up to 130 dB SE out to 1 GHz), but has any of our readers personally evaluated their effectiveness? Thanks for your time, Mike Conn Owner/Principal Consultant Mikon Consulting
RE: Spira EMI Gaskets
--- On Thu, 19 Mar 1998 09:54:32 -0700 Rick Busche rbus...@es.com wrote: We have recently started using a spiral gasket on the edges of our VME front panels. I assume the Spira gaskets are the same or similar. If so, they are working MUCH better than the fingers we replaced. Durability is better, insertion resistance lower and in our case we have been able to mix and match with no apparent degradation. Rick Busche rbus...@es.com -Original Message- From: MikonCons [SMTP:mikonc...@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, March 19, 1998 9:02 AM To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject:Spira EMI Gaskets I just caught Ed's comment on the use of Spira gaskets. I have recommended their POSSIBLE use to one of my clients for sealing around some single-board computer VME cards; however, I have not directly evaluated the performance of Spira gaskets. Their literature makes great claims (up to 130 dB SE out to 1 GHz), but has any of our readers personally evaluated their effectiveness? Thanks for your time, Mike Conn Owner/Principal Consultant Mikon Consulting ---End of Original Message- Mike: We use the Spira gaskets in many places where we used to use other (classic fingerstock, conductive elastomer, knitted wire) types of gasketing. Our mechanical guys like the way that they can control closure forces with the Spira style. I like the Spira mainly for the mechanical properties. Electrically, the gaskets perform as well as classic fingerstock or knit wire mesh. I still have a bit of a preference for wire mesh for some applications, but the Spira is a strong contender as a general gasket choice. When it comes to any manufacturer's claims about shielding performance, I'm always skeptical. With gasketing, as with any other part of your shield solution, material choice is usually secondary to quality of fabrication. Translation: Lot's of stuff will work OK if you don't mess up the workmanship part of the job. I'll rate Spira style gasketing as one (bloody) thumb up. PS: I think Spira has a patent on this design. OTOH, they have been making it for some +20 years, so maybe the patent has expired. Finally, no gasket system creates the equivalent mayhem involved in applying aluminum or copper adhesive foil tape. Harry Callahan must have been thinking about this when he said that when properly used, this can REMOVE fingerprints. ;) -- Ed Price ed.pr...@cubic.com Electromagnetic Compatibility Lab Cubic Defense Systems San Diego, CA. USA 619-505-2780 List-Post: emc-pstc@listserv.ieee.org Date: 03/19/98 Time: 11:34:11 --
RE: Spira EMI Gaskets
We have recently started using a spiral gasket on the edges of our VME front panels. I assume the Spira gaskets are the same or similar. If so, they are working MUCH better than the fingers we replaced. Durability is better, insertion resistance lower and in our case we have been able to mix and match with no apparent degradation. Rick Busche rbus...@es.com -Original Message- From: MikonCons [SMTP:mikonc...@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, March 19, 1998 9:02 AM To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject:Spira EMI Gaskets I just caught Ed's comment on the use of Spira gaskets. I have recommended their POSSIBLE use to one of my clients for sealing around some single-board computer VME cards; however, I have not directly evaluated the performance of Spira gaskets. Their literature makes great claims (up to 130 dB SE out to 1 GHz), but has any of our readers personally evaluated their effectiveness? Thanks for your time, Mike Conn Owner/Principal Consultant Mikon Consulting
